Where the Colors Show
by PuffingNoise
Summary: Futurefic, pics up after To Live and Let Diorama. LLcentered.
1. Green

_A/N: Thanks to **allthingsholy** for the beta-read!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own these character/settings. I just like to play with them._

_A/N2: Picks up right after "To Live and Let Diorama"._

**Green**

_Late April, 2005_

He's never done this before, not in a long, long time anyway, and it seems out of character even to himself, but she has changed him. Well, not exactly _changed_ him, but she draws out parts of him that have been repressed since he was a boy. The last time that he went on a picnic, he was about ten years old. His mom and dad had takenhim on a day-trip to northwestern Connecticut. In the morning, they had gone fishing, and then built a campfire, where they cooked what they caught, and ate it along with the other food that his mom had packed.

They sat on a blanket spread over the grass underneath the thick green trees. He could still, to this day, hear the babbling sounds of the small river behind them. He could still smell the water, and the way that the summer heat caused the trees and the green moss and the dirt to cast off their sweet scents.

Luke knew that Lorelai had never been a huge fan of the whole nature thing, but he did know that she enjoyed surprises, and pie. So he was sure she would enjoy spending an afternoon with him, picnicking, as long as he brought along the pie. He couldn't waste a day like this-- warm, sunny, and breezy-- a typical Connecticut spring day.

…………………………………………….

Lorelai sat in her office at the Dragonfly, staring at the monthly paperwork, wishing she were somewhere else rather than cooped up inside on this beautiful spring day.

There was a knock at her office door, and then the sound of Michel's annoyed voice. "Your unsociable boyfriend is here to see you, and I'd also like to add that I am not your personal messenger."

Lorelai smiled like she did every time she thought of Luke. "Alright, I'll be right there!"

She met Luke in the lobby. He was looking a bit sheepish, and asked Lorelai if she could get away for lunch.

"Of course," she answered, smiling. "But I usually come in to the diner to see you at lunchtime anyway."

Luke motioned for her to follow him outside. "Yeah, but I thought I'd do something special today."

"Luke Danes, no matter what anyone says, you are a true romantic," she cooed.

Luke turned a bit red. "I am not a romantic. I just wanted to spend some time with my girlfriend in the afternoon, away from the diner for once."

"Ooh, are we going to do something dirty?" Lorelai mischievously grinned and grabbed onto his arm, waiting for his reaction.

"Ah, jeez!"

She skipped up to stand in front of him, walking backwards, her index finger pointed in his face , and said, "Hey, noon was what 'nooners' were invented for, my friend."

"We are not going to have a…" Luke trailed off, motioning with his hands.

"Why won't you say the word?" She was giggling now, clearly enjoying his embarrassment over a silly word.

"What word?" he acted as if he didn't know what she was talking about.

"Nooner!"

"I'm not going to say that." His voice contained that gruff tone that she knows means that he's getting annoyed, but that she still hasn't gone too far.

"Come on Luke, just say it!"

Luke sighed as they reached his truck, green and shiningin the sunlight. He opened the passenger side door. "Just get in."

Lorelai gasped when she saw what was in the back of the truck. "Luke! Is that a picnic basket!"

Luke looked at her sideways. "Yes..."

"Since when do you have a picnic basket?" Her mouth hung open a little in surprise.

"I bought a stupid basket at the store, and by putting food in it, it became a picnic basket."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Luke?" Lorelai giggled, smiling.

……………………………………………….

"What's this? What _is_ this!" Emily Gilmore yelled to the maid. "I asked you to put these flowers on the dining room table! Does this look like the _dining room_ to you?"

"No, Mrs. Gilmore," the maid replied, wringing her hands nervously.

"Move them, please. And what on earth are these green things? This is not a cheap dining hall that perpetually smells like hospital-cooked chicken. We don't enjoy looking at ferns in our flower arrangements!" Emily was on her usual annoyed tirade, waving her arms in the air, making it clear what an imbecile she thought the maid was.

"Sorry, Mrs. Gilmore." If the maid had a tail, it would have been tucked between her legs as she retreated to the kitchen with the flower arrangement.

Emily sighed, made herself a drink, and sat down. It had been six weeks since the "shut up" incident, and still no apology from her daughter. She sat down and tried to remember the last time that she had ever beentalked to in that way.

Richard walked through the room on his way to the kitchen. His face was buried in some business papers, and he heard his wife sigh loudly. Stopping and looking up from what he was reading, he noticed that Emily was clearly bothered. "Something wrong?" he asked

"No, nothing's wrong." She stubbornly waved him off, not wanting to admit right away that she was upset.

Richard regarded her for a few moments, and then replied simply, "Alright," and began to walk away. He knew she would talk when she was ready, and he had too many things to do at the moment to sit around and try to get her to confess to what was wrong.

"Why can't I have with Lorelai what Lorelai has with Rory?" Emily blurted out as Richard reached the doorway. She quickly cast her eyes down to the floor, a bit embarrassed.

Richard moved to sit down next to his wife. He had never actually heard Emily admit to being envious of Lorelai and Rory's close friendship, even though he knew that envy existed.

"You and Lorelai are two different people, Emily, that's really what it boils down to," Richard replied gently.

"I do so much for her, though, Richard," she said more softly, raising her eyes to his. "I try to make her see that she can do more with her life. She could have a life like ours, and have enough money to not have to work at that inn of hers." Richard silently nodded, listening. "She could make those societal connections that are so important, but she doesn't get it. I do this for her own good, and all she can do about it is to tell me to shut up. What is wrong with her?"

Richard remained silent for a moment. He had a feeling in his gut that this was what was driving Lorelai away. They were trying to change their grown daughter regardless of her happiness, and that wasn't really right. Still, he felt obliged to be on his wife's side. "She'll come around someday. We just have to wait."

Emily took a sip of her drink. "I don't want to wait."

…………………………………………………

_SLAM!_

Rory groaned. "Paris! Do you have to slam the door so hard?"

"Don't tell me you're still hung-over. It's been a day and a half."

Rory lay on the common room couch with her arm slungover her eyes and mumbled, "I am not hung-over." Her books and homework were scattered on the floor beside her, neglected.

"You certainly look hung-over, and the last time I saw you, you were looking pretty green."

"I am never drinking that much again," Rory murmured, and added, "You weren't too far behind me, wandering the streets of my town barefoot, begging for money for the payphone."

"Shut up!" Paris said forcefully, plopping herself down on the chair across from the couch. After a short pause, she spoke up again. "We're pathetic. You know that?"

"Why?"

"Just because of some dumb guys, we go and get drunk off of some stupid party punch, make idiots of ourselves, and then suffer hangovers that last for days." Paris sat at the edge of the chair facing Rory as she spoke, in order to get her point across, "For what! We're better than that!"

"Yes, we are, but right now I need to sleep."

Paris stood up again quickly, and began to pace the floor in front of the couch where Rory lay. "You don't care that we've turned into those girls who sit by the phone waiting for the guy to call, and when he doesn't, they go all 'Boo hoo for me', and go out with their friends and get drunk, which gives them another thing to complain about the next day when they have hangovers, and don't get anything done, and everything goes to crap, and before you know it, they're living on the couch of their best friend because they failed out of school, and have no job?" Her hands waved in normal Paris-fashion throughout her rant.

"Paris, I think you're exaggerating a little," Rory said with her eyes closed.

Paris walked into her bedroom in a huff and slammed the door.

Rory winced at the sound and closed her eyes again, waiting to be oblivious of her headache and her thoughts of Logan.

……………………………………………

"Pie!" gasped Lorelai as she rummaged through the picnic basket. Luke had driven them to a quiet, wooded area just outside of town, and spread out a green, plaid flannel blanket on the grass to sit on (which Lorelai mocked mercilessly forten minutes. "Is everything you own made out of flannel!").

Lorelai couldn't wait to see what he had packed for their lunch. The first thing she took out was a salad. "What's this? You know I don't eat anything green unless it's round and has an "M" stamped on it."

"That's mine," Luke said, "but I wish you would eat more vegetables." Luke knew he was fighting a losing battle, but he always thought that maybe, someday, what he said would stick.Lorelai wrinkled up her nose in disgust.

Next, she pulled out a hamburger. "Eww! You put lettuce on this! You tried to trick me!" She made a face as she picked the lettuce off and threw it into the woods. "The bunnies can eat it."

Luke rolled his eyes, "Hey, I can try, can't I?"

Luke couldn't help but smile at her gleefulness as she pulled out the pie, though. He never quite understood her enthusiasm for pie, but it always made him laugh. He always loved how Lorelai could become so happy over the most ordinary things.

They started on their lunch, and after a few moments of silence, Lorelai spoke up. "Luke, this is really nice," she said as she smiled. At the same time, she wondered what made him want to do this for her.

He returned her smile. "Yeah, it is."

"You never cease to surprise me. I never would have thought of you as a picnic kind of guy." There was a flirtatious tone in her voice, and that mischievous smile.

"I've always had the picnic spirit buried within me somewhere," he replied, flirting right back.

Lorelai loved that this was a side to him that he only showed to her, and to no one else. It made her feel special, and she couldn't help smiling at him, and holding his gaze for a few long moments.

Luke broke the moment first. "So, they already closed that stupid museum at the Twickham house, and Taylor's going to be selling it soon." He hoped Lorelai didn't hear the nervousness in his voice.One of the reasons why he had wanted to take her on this special picnic lunch was because he hoped to discuss the house with her, but first, he wanted to get a feel for whatshe thought of the house before he let her know that he hoped to live there with her.

"Oh, yeah? That is a pretty house," Lorelai replied.

"I've always liked that house ever since I was a kid. I used to imagine what it would be like to live in it."

"Really? It seems a little too fancy for your taste."

"Fancy? It's not fancy. I don't like fancy," he replied a bit defensively. Luke never wanted to be associated with anything that hadto do with the word "fancy".

"Whatever you say there, bucko. But that house is fancy."

Luke was starting to feel a bit discouraged. Did she like it? Did she hate it? She admitted that it waspretty, but that didn't mean that she would ever live in it. Luke wasn't sure what to do. He didn't think actually buying the house and then telling her about it later would be the best of ideas, but he really wasn't sure about how to approach the subject and let her know that he wanted to live there with her.

Lorelai was lost in thoughts of her own. Talking about houses made her wonder if it was time for her and Luke to move in together. They spent so much time with each other already that they might as well. It wouldn't be much different. They already woke up next to each other almost every morning, they saw each other multiple times every day, and they spent time with each other just about every night. Lorelai was surprised at the feeling of comfort and happiness that overcame her when she thought about Luke living with her in her house. Something like this a year ago would have freaked her out, but now, with Luke, it felt right.

Now if she could just figure out how to ask him. Little did she know that Luke's mind was occupied with the same subject, but thathe had a completely different idea about where they'd be living.


	2. Yellow

_A/N: Thanks to **iheartbridges** for the beta-read!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own these characters/setting. I just like to play with them._

**Yellow**

_May, 2005_

The yellow rays of the morning sunshine shone through the windows in Lorelai's bedroom, the soft illumination slowly waking Lorelai out of a sound sleep. She looked at the clock- 6:30 A.M. Luke was still with her in bed, she was cradled against him, their legs tangled together, and his arm slung protectively over her waist. She smiled to herself, always loving waking up in Luke's arms. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, and she would never get tired of the feeling of warmth and security that it gave her. After reveling in these feelings for a moment, she knew that Luke was late waking up, and that he wouldn't be too happy when he found out. She shifted in his arms so that she was facing him, and began to kiss him awake. Very softly, she repeatedly kissed his lips, until she felt him respond in kind. She pulled away slightly to whisper a "Good morning" before pausing and adding, "It's six-thirty."

"So?" he mumbled sleepily, his eyes still not fully open

"So, you own a diner. You are usually opening it by now," she answered while planting a kiss on his neck.

"Caesar is opening today," Luke responded, still not fully awake.

"Really?" Lorelai pulled back to look at him.

"Yeah, I wanted to spend more time with you. I thought it would be nice for us to sleep in, and then I could make us breakfast before you set out for the Inn." Luke tightened his arm around her, pulling her closer.

"Ooh! Can you make pancakes?" she asked with more energy than any human being should have at that time of morning.

"Uh huh," Luke murmured, eyes closed, almost asleep again.

"Eggs?"

"Yup."

"French toast? Bacon? Waffles?" she wasn't even waiting for his answers anymore.

Luke took a deep breath. "Yes, now go to sleep."

Lorelai giggled at his sleepy annoyance. "Okay, just one more thing…"

"What?" he asked, opening his eyes now with that same look of irritation on his face that was there every time she asked for her sixth cup of coffee.

"This." Lorelai whispered with a playful smirk on her face. She pressed her lips to his and lingered for a few moments while running her fingers through his hair.

When she pulled away, his features had softened, and he answered, "Okay… Now go back to sleep."

"Yes, sir!" she joked, and then eagerly snuggled up closer to him, making contact with as much of his body as possible. She lay with her head nestled into the crook of his neck, her arms surrounded his middle, pulling him snugly to her, and her legs were intertwined with his.

Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was that this would be the day-- the day she would ask Luke to move in with her.

……………………………………

Slowly, Lorelai awoke a couple of hours later. Reaching out for Luke, all she found was the cool sheets next to her. As she stretched and inhaled deeply, waking herself up, she smelled the scent of coffee drifting up from downstairs.

Luke was in the kitchen making breakfast and brewing the coffee. He was startled at first when he felt Lorelai's arms snake around his waist from behind, but relaxed as she kissed the back of his neck a couple of times.

"What's cookin', good lookin'?"

Luke rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Eggs, bacon, pancakes… the works."

"Ooooh. Sounds yummy," Lorelai plopped herself into a chair at the kitchen table while she continued waking up. She yawned and passed a hand over her face, "Ugh. Need coffee."

"One step ahead of ya," Luke placed a large yellow mug filled to the brim with steaming hot coffee in front of Lorelai. Her eyes lit up, and she made a little squealing sound of appreciation. Luke couldn't help but smile as he went back to finish cooking breakfast.

Lorelai loved this- having Luke here in her house when she woke up in the morning, to cook breakfast so they were able to eat together before going to their respective workplaces. She was anxious to ask Luke to move in with her, but she of course had to consult Rory first. It was, after all, her house too.

……………………………………

Rory was on her way to class. Tired, and exhausted from staying up until all hours of the morning completing the homework that she had neglected while recently afflicted by her hangover, she felt a bit fuzzy, and because her reaction time was clouded, as she rounded the corner of the building where her class was held, she ran smack into the person coming around from the other side.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, looking up, and noticing that it was Marty.

"Oof!" She almost knocked the wind out of him. "You okay?" Marty's hand was at Rory's elbow, supporting her while she caught her balance again.

"Oh, yeah, just tired, and not paying attention, that's all," Rory said as she caught her balance, rolling her eyes at her own clumsiness. "So, um, how have you been? I haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh, I'm pretty good." Marty kicked at some pebbles on the ground, and then started again, "So, Rory—," he was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone. Rory looked at him apologetically and answered it, "Hey, Mom!"

"See you later, Rory," Marty whispered.

Rory waved goodbye to Marty and watched him until he had disappeared around the corner.

"Hey, kid! How are you feeling?" her mother's voice sounded from the other end of the phone.

"Oh, I'm tired, but doing okay. I'm on my way to class, actually."

"Oh. Umm… do you have about… seventy seconds? I have to ask you something, but it'll be quick." Lorelai sat down on the couch, tucking her legs underneath her.

"Yeah, I think I can spare seventy seconds. What's up?" Rory found the nearest bench to sit on.

"Hey, it sure is pretty outside isn't it, with all the daffodils, and the sun, and--"

"Mom!" Rory cut her off, "You've used up most of your seventy seconds on flower talk. What's up?"

Lorelai sighed loudly in preparation, and then gave it a go, "Sweets, what would you think if I asked Luke to move in with us?"

Rory jumped off of the bench with excitement. "What? Did I just hear you correctly?"

"No! I-I don't think I just said what you thought I said," Lorelai answered, misunderstanding Rory's shock, and trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"What? Yes you did! You just asked me what I thought about Luke moving in with us," Rory said excitedly.

"No, I said… 'What would you think if… Luke… drove… to the inn with us'!"

"No, you did not! Plus, that doesn't make any sense." Rory sat back down on the bench.

"Okay, fine, I did say what you first thought I said," Lorelai admitted quietly, frowning.

"Mom, I think that's a great idea." Rory was smiling the largest she had in a week, so happy that first of all, Lorelai was finally letting a man that much into her life and that second of all, this man was Luke- Rory couldn't think of anyone else that would be better for her mother.

"You do?"

"Yes! We love Luke! He practically lives there anyway, right? Might as well make it official and actually have him move his stuff in."

Lorelai was grinning now. "Thanks so much, kid. This means so much that you are okay with this."

"I'm happy for you, Mom… oh, and I'm almost late for class. Tell Luke hi for me!"

Lorelai was so relieved that Rory seemed so happy about the idea of Luke moving in. She hoped Luke would be just as okay with the idea. She hoped Luke would love the idea.

Lorelai was on her way out the door. Luke had left for the diner a little while ago. She had kissed him in her doorway, watched his truck pull out of the driveway, and then lunged for the phone to call Rory. Now, she was just getting her stuff together that she needed for the day. As she opened the front door to leave, she was shocked at who she saw standing on the front porch, arm raised, poised to knock.

"Mom! W-What are you doing here?" Lorelai was perplexed. Her mother came here to Stars Hollow, apparently to see her. Part of her (even though she would deny it forever) was a bit hopeful. Maybe her mother was here to apologize. Sure, it wouldn't fix everything, but it would be a step. Lorelai was also still feeling bad about the way that she had yelled at Emily the last time that they saw each other. She had totally deserved it, but still, she felt horrible afterwards.

"Hello Lorelai. You know, it's rude to receive guests on the front porch." Emily's expression was unreadable.

Lorelai hesitated for a moment, but then opened the door wider. "Right. Well, come in then."

Emily stepped into the house. The morning sunshine bounced off the yellow walls, creating a cheery air inside, contrasting with the tension that actually filled the room. "I haven't seen this place in a while. I see not much has changed," Emily said as she looked around the living room, clearly avoiding the subject at hand.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Lorelai was growing increasingly impatient.

Emily looked Lorelai square in the eyes and stated, "Lorelai, I want you to come to Friday Night Dinner this week."

Lorelai's eyes grew wide. "Mom. Are you on something!"

"Excuse me?" Emily was taken aback.

"Are you on drugs or something? Because that's the only thing that makes sense as to why you would ever expect me to just come to Friday night dinner after what you did to me and Luke."

"Lorelai, believe it or not, I care about you. I know you can do more with your life, be more important. That's why I did what I did."

"The big problem isn't that you want 'more' for me. Although, I don't like that you think that either. The problem is that you seem to have no disregard for my feelings, or for Luke's feelings, or for Rory's feelings! You put together this plan to break up me and Luke! Do you know how devastated I was?" Lorelai paused, and then added, "I love him, Mom, and what you did almost caused him to leave me, forever! I can't just pretend like nothing ever happened and come to Friday Night Dinner!"

Emily stood there, staring. She didn't intend for this to turn out this way. She had come here to try to apologize. She wanted her daughter back in her life, and though she didn't fully understand what she was apologizing for, she knew it had to be done. "Alright, fine, Lorelai, I apologize, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Lorelai stood dumbfounded, unable to form any words. Her mother just apologized to her, which was something she thought she would never hear.

Lorelai stood, speechless, her mouth slightly agape, wondering if she really heard what she thought she had heard. Before she could recover enough to form actual words, Emily was already out the door.

…………………………………

"Sookie, I need coffee!" Lorelai exclaimed as she entered the kitchen at the Dragonfly.

"Everything okay, hon?" Sookie asked, placing a hand on Lorelai's arm.

"Why? I always want coffee. How would that be a giveaway to me not being okay?"

"See? You just admitted it! You're not okay. What's wrong?" Sookie asked, pouring Lorelai a cup of coffee.

Lorelai leaned against the counter and sighed. "Oh, my mother just came to see me. Sookie, I think she apologized."

"You _think_ she apologized?" Sookie furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Oh, you know, she said the words, but I don't know if she's just trying to manipulate me back into her life so that I can be her personal hand puppet again." Lorelai sighed and took a sip of coffee.

"Well, maybe she really meant it. I know sometimes she has funny ways of showing it, but she does care about you, and I'm sure she doesn't want to lose you forever."

"I don't know, Sook…"

"It'll be okay!" Sookie tried to make her friend feel better.

"Thanks, Sookie." Lorelai paused for a moment. "I told my mother that I love Luke."

"Well, do you?"

Lorelai smiled then. "Yeah, I really do."

"So, what's the problem?" Sookie asked, stirring the contents of a pot on the stove.

"I haven't told Luke yet."

"You haven't told Luke that you love him?"

Lorelai shook her head and then took another sip of coffee.

"I think you should tell him."

"I know… I'm just- it's just- well, I know how much he cares about me, but at the same time, I'm afraid that he doesn't feel the same way."

"Lorelai! That man has loved you forever! Of course he feels the same way!"

………………………………

Luke walked into Lorelai's house to find her curled up under a yellow blanket on the couch in front of the TV, restlessly flipping through the channels. When she saw him, she smiled, but looked distracted.

Luke walked over to the couch and sat down next to her, placing a hand on her leg. "You okay?"

Lorelai waved him off. "Oh yeah, I'm fine." She wanted to tell him about her mother's visit, but she had other more important things to ask him first, and she didn't know how he would take the news about her mother.

"Are you sure?" his look of concern touched her.

"Yes! I'm fine." She said, drawing out the last word. "Come here," she whispered, readjusting herself on the couch, so that she was now facing him. She took his face in her hands, and kissed him slowly, softly, lovingly. Luke's fingers tangled in her hair, as he deepened the kiss.

After a few blissful moments, Lorelai pulled away, looking him in the eyes. "Luke, I need to ask you something."

Luke's stomach dropped, and as Lorelai noticed the look of fear on his face, she quickly added, "Don't worry! It's something good!"

"Okay, I like something good." Luke smiled and ran his fingers up and down her arm.

Lorelai was suddenly struck with overwhelming nervousness. She took a few deep breaths. "Luke, I've been thinking about this for a little while, actually, and I think you should move in. Here."

She didn't know how to read the look on Luke's face. She was honestly terrified. The silence was killing her.

"You want me to move in with you?"

Lorelai smiled tentatively. "Yeah."

Luke didn't know what to say. He felt his future plans—his plans for buying the Twickham house for he and Lorelai to raise a family in together— slipping from his grasp, and he was desperately trying to think of a way to inform Lorelai of said plans without hurting her feelings and making her feel like he was turning down her offer..

"Oh… Okay… I understand." Lorelai said softly, after Luke hadn't said anything in response.

"No, Lorelai, you don't understand."

"Yes. Yes I do understand, Luke. You don't want to live with me. I thought we were on the same page, but apparently we're not." Lorelai moved away from him a bit and sat towards the opposite side of the couch.

"Lorelai, listen to me!" Luke said, exasperated.

Lorelai looked up at Luke, surprised.

He moved closer to her on the couch, and took her hand in his. "I was actually going to ask you to move in with me. I was just taken off-guard when you asked me just now. I wasn't expecting it."

"Oh. Okay." Lorelai didn't quite know what to say. "You want me to live with you in your apartment?" It seemed a bit odd to her, seeing as his apartment was so small. She always pictured them living in her house.

"No, no. I uh, actually thought about buying the Twickham house, and… wanted to live there with you."

Lorelai's eyes grew large. "Oh Luke, but-- but this is my home." She didn't know what to say. She knew it was probably the wrong thing to say at this moment, but she was taken so off-guard that she couldn't stop taking in order to think. It all just came rambling out. "I have memories here. Rory grew up here, and in a way, I did too. I bought this house when I was 27 with money I had saved up from working as a maid… I love this house."

Luke was upset. He was planning on buying a house for him and Lorelai to raise a family in and she was too busy thinking about how much she'd miss her old house. "Ok, fine. That's just fine!" Luke let go of her hand and stood up from the couch.

Lorelai got up to follow him. "Why are you mad?"

"You care more about this house than you care about me or our future!" His arms waved around in typical Luke-rant fashion.

"No Luke, that's not true! You know I'm not good with change. You know—,"

Luke cut her off. "No Lorelai, it's fine. I'm gonna go." And with that, he was out the door; she couldn't stop him.

…………………………………

Rory was in her room doing some homework when she heard a knock on the common room door.

"Paris, can you get that?"

No answer. "Paris?" Rory sighed and got up, annoyed at the interruption. Finals were coming up the following week, and she had 3 papers due, and wasn't getting very far on any of them. She opened the door, and saw Marty standing there wearing a yellow T-shirt and jeans, his hands were thrust in his pockets. "Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey." Rory said, surprised to see him. Marty hadn't dropped by since… before the time he told her that he liked her, and she told him that she liked… Logan.

"Can I come in?" he asked almost shyly.

"Oh, sure. Come on in." She opened the door a bit wider to let him in. "So… what's up?" She asked looking at him as he awkwardly stood in the middle of the room.

"Oh, not much. I just realized that I haven't talked to you in a while, so I thought I'd drop by and say hi. I hope this isn't a bad time."

"Oh no, it's fine. I'm glad you stopped by." Rory smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Hey, how about we go get some coffee? We can talk, catch up…"

"Sure, sounds good. Let's go," Rory said as she grabbed her jacket.

…………………………………………

"So, almost the end of the semester," Marty said, before taking a sip of his cappuccino.

"I know. This semester went by so fast!" Rory paused, "It's too bad we didn't get to hang out much."

"Yeah." Marty agreed in a way—He did miss Rory over the past couple of months but at the same time, it would have been to hard for him to be around all the time knowing that Logan, the guy she really had feelings for, could show up at any minute.

"I do have to take a class this summer, so I'll still be here until July," Rory said, changing the subject. She sensed Marty was a bit uncomfortable with the previous topic.

"Oh yeah? So am I. I figured, as long as the class is being offered, I might as well take it now."

Rory smiled. "Yeah, people think I'm crazy for taking a class during the summer when I could have three months off, but I really don't mind. So I'm taking one of those pesky required General Ed. Courses—British Lit 112."

Marty grinned, "So am I, Monday through Thursday, 12:00 – 2:00 P.M."

"Oh, hey, we're in the same class!" Rory smiled back, glad that she'll have a friend with her on campus when not many other people will be around.

Rory and Marty continued talking. It felt like old times again, very unlike the awkwardness that had been there after Marty had told Rory how he felt about her.

They lost all track of time, and by the time Marty walked Rory back to her dorm three hours later, she realized that she had just gone three whole hours without dwelling on Logan, and on whether or not he'll ever call her again.

…………………………………

Lorelai had just watched Luke walk out on her. Everything from their breakup came rushing back to her- all of the feelings she felt when she had thought she had lost him, they all came flooding to her, along with the tears. She ran upstairs, struggled with her tear-clouded vision to change into some pajamas, crawled under the covers, and cried herself to sleep.

Lorelai awoke feeling that warm and safe feeling that she always felt when she woke up in Luke's arms. She gave herself a moment to fully become conscious, and noticed that there was an arm around her waist, and that she felt warm breath at the back of her neck. It was 4:00 A.M.

Was that all just a dream? Maybe _this_ was a dream.

She was completely confused. She pinched herself. "Ah, crap! That hurt." Okay, this part isn't a dream. She turned around to face Luke, and saw him looking at her. He was awake.

"Luke?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"For what?"

"For walking out on you before, for freaking out, for everything."

Okay, that part wasn't a dream either. "Oh Luke, I'm sorry too. I didn't even think about your feelings. I was just thinking about how I could never leave this house, and didn't even think about the fact—"

He kissed her then. He had found that it was the most effective way to get her to stop talking.

"No, Lorelai, I thought about it, and if you feel so strongly about this house, then I shouldn't make you leave it."

"But Luke, it's just a house." She reached up and smoothed a hand over his hair.

"No, not to you it's not. It's full of memories. I can't ask you to leave all that behind. I know how important it is to you. Plus, I realized that I already feel at home here. I've fixed probably everything there is to fix in this house. I feel like it's partly mine anyway."

"Are you saying you'll move in here with me?"

Luke smiled. "Yeah. I'd love to."

"Are you really sure? I mean, I love you and I want you to be happy…" She paused when she felt Luke's fingers tighten around her waist where his hand had been resting, and realized that she just told him that she loved him. She stared into his wide, wondering eyes, and hoped she hadn't scared him away. Just as she was about to apologize for possibly speaking to soon, she felt his lips on hers, gently, yet passionately. After a few moments, he pulled away, looked into her eyes, and responded in kind, "I love you too. And yes, I'm sure— I want to move in with you, here, in your house."

"Our house," she whispered, and pulled him into a tight embrace.

………………………………

The next weekend was spent moving Luke's stuff in. They enlisted Rory's help, and she brought Marty along to help out with any heavy lifting involved.

"So, I see you're hanging out with Marty again, huh?" Lorelai asked Rory later on in the kitchen as they took a break; the guys were upstairs re-assembling Luke's bureau.

"Oh yeah, we're both taking that same summer class, so we've been keeping each other company on campus."

"Oh yeah, of course. It's always good to have a _friend_ around." Lorelai said, emphasizing the word as she took two sodas out of the fridge, one for Rory, and one for herself.

"Mom! How many times have I told you that Marty _is_ just a friend!" Rory whispered loudly.

"Well, you seem to be spending a lot of time with him lately, and I haven't heard another word about Logan in the past couple of weeks," Lorelai said, sitting down at the table across from Rory.

"Well, I haven't heard anything from Logan either, and you know what? I don't care anymore," Rory said, playing with the tab on the top of the soda can.

"Well, I'm glad you've got Marty to keep you company."

Rory shot her mother a don't-say-another-word look.

Lorelai giggled and took a swig of her soda.

Later on, after all of Luke's stuff was moved in, the four of them, Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and Marty, crashed in front of the TV to watch a movie. An old favorite was chosen—"Willy Wonka".

Not too far into it, Marty had fallen asleep on the floor. Rory looked back to the couch, and Lorelai had also fallen asleep. Rory got up and sat on the couch next to Luke.

"I can't believe Mom fell asleep during 'Willy Wonka'!" Rory said, looking over at Lorelai on the other side of Luke.

Luke laughed, "Yeah it's a shocker."

Rory paused for a moment. "Hey Luke?"

Luke looked over at Rory again, she had a serious look on her face. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm really happy for you and Mom, and I'm glad you're moving in here."

Luke smiled, relieved. He had been a little worried about what Rory thought of their new living arrangements. He wasn't really afraid that Rory wouldn't want him there, but he had some natural apprehension seeing as Rory had lived her whole life in that house, just her and her mom, and now he was moving in. It was a change, and he was really glad that Rory was okay with it. "Thanks Rory, it means a lot to know that you're okay with this."

"'Okay'? I think it's wonderful, in fact."

"Yeah?" Luke smiled again.

"Definitely." Rory answered, smiling back.

………………………………

**_May 20th_**

Lorelai arrived home after a long day at the Dragonfly. She picked up the mail on the way in, and as she placed it on the kitchen table, she gasped a little as she saw a vase full of roses— six red, and six yellow. There was an envelope leaning against the vase with her name written in familiar handwriting. Slowly, she opened it, her heart beating quickly in anticipation. Taking out the card that was inside, it read:

_Lorelai,_

_A year ago today was a day full of firsts. The first time I'd ever given anyone flowers… and the first time we kissed._

_Happy Anniversary_

_Love, Luke_

Lorelai was overwhelmed that he remembered the date of their first kiss, and that he would do something this sweet. She wiped away the tears that had escaped down her cheeks, headed towards the door, and slipped on her pink flip-flops. She couldn't wait for Luke to come home to thank him for the flowers; she had to see him now. But as she opened the front door, he was already heading up the sidewalk.

As he reached the door, Lorelai threw herself at him, and hugged him tightly. "Luke. Thank you, you sweet man." Lorelai pulled back from Luke in order to look him in the eyes.

"You're welcome." Luke smiled softly, and kissed her tear-stained cheeks.

Lorelai pulled him into the house with her and shut the door. "So, why red and yellow?"

Luke looked at the floor, clearly embarrassed. He paused for a moment, and then replied, "You'll probably make fun of me for being such a dork about this, but I actually looked up the meanings of different colors of roses."

"Of course it's dorky, but that's why I love you." Lorelai smiled playfully. "What do they stand for?"

Luke rolled his eyes, but smiled. "The red signifies romance and passionate love. And the yellow signifies happiness and friendship."

Lorelai was touched that Luke would think to not only celebrate their love for each other, but also the friendship that had brought them to this point. She hugged him again, and after a few moments, not wanting to pull away just yet, she spoke into his neck, "I feel bad, I didn't get you anything… I didn't know you'd count this as or actual anniversary."

Luke pulled back to look at her. "Why? You think we have a different anniversary?" He looked perplexed.

Lorelai giggled. "Yes, we didn't actually go out on our first official date until after you got back from Maine six weeks later! You know, dinner at Sniffy's Tavern, and later on that night, the first time we made love…" Lorelai slid her hand up to the back of his neck and ruffled the curls that peeked out from underneath his baseball cap. She noticed him blush at her mention of their first time together, and couldn't help but smile.

"Actually, I thought our first date was when I took you to Liz and TJ's wedding." His hands were at her waist, his fingertips idly tracing circles on the skin there underneath her shirt.

"Well, I didn't know it was a _date_ at the time." Her eyes looked steadily into his.

"I know. That's why I don't count that as the beginning of our relationship." He spoke just above a whisper now, his face moving closer to hers.

"But you count the day of our first kiss as the beginning of our relationship?"

"Yes," he breathed. Their lips met then in a tender kiss which slowly elevated in intensity.

"Ok, now we are on the same page," Lorelai spoke against his lips, "and our official anniversary is May 20th." She kissed him again, and then pulled back just a bit to look him in the eyes. "Hey Luke?"

He rested his forehead against hers. "Yeah?"

"I have never been in a relationship before that lasted this long." She played with one of the buttons on his shirt.

Luke's eyes softened, and then his expression turned mischievous as his eyes darted to the stairs and back to her again. "Just another reason to celebrate."

Lorelai giggled, kissed him quickly, and then led him towards the stairs and up to their bedroom.


	3. Blue

_A/N: Thanks to my betas** Matt **and **iheartbridges**!_

_Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls belongs to Amy Sherman-Palladino, et al. Not me._

_**Blue**_

_June, 2005_

"Luuuuke! Pancakes!" Lorelai breezed into the diner, bells jingling over the door. They each leaned over the counter for a kiss before Lorelai plopped herself onto her usual stool at the counter.

Luke was wearing her favorite of his flannels- the blue and white one very similar to the one that Lorelai had pilfered for herself to wear to bed. She liked it so much on him because it brightened up the color of his pretty blue eyes. (Pretty in a manly way, of course. He'd get all grumbly if he heard her refer to any part of his body as "pretty").

"Hey," he said, leaning closer to her, his elbows on the counter. "I made plans for us for Friday night." He spoke in that low, deep, husky tone that always sent a shiver through her.

"Oh yeah?" she breathed.

"Yeah. It's a surprise," he answered, standing up straight, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Oh shoot! I can't!" Lorelai said suddenly, dropping her hand to the counter.

"Why not?" Luke looked disappointed.

Lorelai sighed, "I meant to talk to you about this earlier, but I didn't know how you'd take it." She paused long enough to see the questioning look on his face, and then continued quietly, "I might be going to Friday Night Dinner."

"What?" he asked out of disbelief.

"My mother came to see me a couple of weeks ago. She asked me to come to Friday Night Dinner…" she paused and looked down at her hands before meeting his eyes again. "Luke, she apologized to me."

Luke didn't know quite what to say. Emily Gilmore definitely wasn't one of his favorite people, especially right now. He couldn't fathom why a mother would do something like what Emily did to her daughter. But on the other hand, Luke also understood the importance of family. Because of the fact that both of his parents died when Luke was so young, he was more sensitive to the fact that you only have one set of parents, and it doesn't do anyone any good to shut them out of your life, especially after they've apologized for something that they've done.

"Did she mean it?" he finally asked, quietly, with a serious look on his face.

Lorelai pondered for a moment, her big, blue eyes aimed at the ceiling as she did so. Yeah, I think she did," she answered finally, her eyes meeting back up with his again.

Luke sighed and walked around to her side of the counter to sit on the stool next to her. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" he asked, a bit of annoyance evident in his voice. He was a bit upset that this had happened a couple of weeks ago and she had never told him about it, but at the same time he knew what a sensitive issue this was, and he didn't feel the need to get them both all worked up over it.

Lorelai sighed heavily. "I just—I guess I just didn't know how you were going to take it-- me having contact with my parents again after what they did to us. And it was the same day that we had that fight about the Twickham house… I just thought we needed some cooling off time in between fights." That last part was a little attempt to lighten the mood, but the look on her face was still serious.

Luke, still fighting to suppress his feelings of anger with this whole situation, reached out to her hand, and held it in his own, running his thumb lightly over the back of her fingers. "Do you want me to come with you? It might be easier for you to have someone else there to run interference."

Lorelai smiled sweetly, "No, I don't think it's the best idea for you to come to dinner with me yet. Sometime soon, when things are better between me and my parents, I definitely want you there. They have to know that you're a fixture in my life. But I think this time, I should go by myself." She paused, and added, "Plus, Rory will be there. She's used to being my buffer."

They were interrupted by the sound of Kirk's whiny voice. "Luke! I've been sitting here for ten minutes! I never have to wait this long at Al's!"

"I'll be right there, Kirk!" Luke looked at Lorelai apologetically.

"Go, go. I'm fine, really. I'll see you at home later." She liked how that sounded.

Luke smiled, and moved in to kiss her softly. She then kissed his cheek, and then moved her mouth to hover over his ear. "Thank you." She whispered. Luke pulled back slightly in order to look at her as he responded. "You're welcome."

Lorelai hoped Luke fully understood what she was thanking him for. For understanding her need to start the healing process with her relationship with her mother, for forgiving her for not telling him about her mother's visit earlier, for wanting to be there with her to face her parents at Friday Night Dinner, for everything. Lorelai watched Luke as he walked over to Kirk's table, order pad and pen in hand. "What do you want, Kirk?" he asked brusquely. Lorelai looked on, smiling to herself at the sweet, understanding man she knew under that gruff exterior

………………………………

Rory's phone was ringing. She almost didn't answer it, as she was trying to finish her homework for her summer class. It was definitely a work-intensive course, a regular sixteen-week semester crammed into five. But as the phone kept ringing, she decided to answer without checking the caller I.D.

"Hello."

"So, today: a beautiful, warm, sunny, June day, and I'm doing my homework thinking, 'I have all weekend to do this. Why am I wasting such a day?' And then my mind wanders to the beach. Yes, I know Connecticut beaches are scummy, and you don't want to swim in the water because who knows what's floating around in the Long Island Sound, but Savin Rock Beach is only ten minutes away in West Haven, and hanging out in the sun, and walking in scummy water is so much better than staying inside doing homework all day"

"Oh, hey, Marty."

"So what do you say?"

"What do I say to what?" Rory asked, putting down her pen.

"What do you say to going to the beach with me for the day?"

"Oh well, I don't know, Marty. I've got a ton of homework…" she looked down at all of the books, and notebooks spread across her desk.

"The same amount as me, seeing as we're in the same class."

Rory sighed. "I don't know…"

"Oh come on, Rory, its early afternoon. We go to the beach, hang out, eat an early dinner at Jimmie's restaurant; we can be back here with time left to work on homework if you insist on not taking the whole day off."

Rory thought it over for a moment. It was true that she had all weekend to do this reading. And why waste a perfectly nice day? "Alright, it sounds great, Marty."

"Alright! I'll be by your dorm to pick you up in a half hour!"

"Okay, see you then." Rory hung up. A day off would be nice. She closed her books, and started gathering her things for the beach.

…………………………………

Lorelai left for the Inn after eating her pancakes. As soon as she was out of sight, Luke picked up the phone, dialed a number, and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Yeah, Steve, it's Luke Danes. Yeah, I have to cancel those reservations for Friday…yeah… but what about next SaturdayFriday, can I still get a table on the private balcony?...Ok… Ok, thanks a lot."

……………………………….

"Marty, what are you doing?" Rory was standing up on the sand, far, far away from the water, watching as Marty was standing knee-high in the ocean. It was close to low-tide, so the water was especially shallow, and Marty was searching around for something under the surface with his hands.

"Hold on, I want to show you something!" he responded, still searching.

Rory ventured a little closer to the water, careful to stay away from those little snails that like to slide across your toes at low-tide.

"Ah, I got it!" Marty said with triumph, bringing something large out of the water. "Check this out." He started walking towards Rory, sea creature grasped in both hands, his arms stretched away from his body, the creature's tons of tiny legs flailing all over the place from its underside, underneath a big shell.

"Ew! What is that!" Rory asked, mouth gaping open.

"It's a Horseshoe Crab. They're all over the place down here, crawling along the bottom. You have to watch out, though, because you see this?" He pointed to a long, pointed appendage at the back of the creature. "You step on this, and it could go straight through your foot."

Rory made a semi-disgusted face, staring at the Horseshoe Crab, which bore a strange resemblance to a space alien. "Aren't you afraid it's going to pinch you?" She suppressed the urge to let out a girlish scream in disgust as she watched the little claws reaching out towards Marty's fingers.

"Nah, its claws are too tiny to do much damage." Marty placed it back into the water, and watched it slowly skitter away along the bottom of the ocean.

"So, Jacques Cousteau, you seem to know a lot about the things of the sea."

Marty laughed at the Cousteau reference. "Yeah, I spent a lot of time watching the Discovery Channel growing up, and I loved coming here and searching for all of the sea animals I had learned about."

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I've never been much of a beach person, and when I do go to the beach, I usually end up lying on a towel on the sand all day."

"Ah, you're one of those." He said with a smirk.

Rory playfully hit his arm in response. You wanna sit?"

Marty nodded. "Sure."

They headed over to the large rock that overlooked the whole Sound, and sat down, dangling their feet in the water which was reflecting the blue of the sky.

There were a few minutes of silence, each enjoying the waves, wind, and each other's company. Finally, Marty spoke up, asking the question he'd been wanting to ask all day—for a few weeks, actually—"Hey Rory? So, what's the deal with you and Logan?"

Rory sighed and answered, "Well, I haven't heard from the guy since the end of April, so I'd say there is no deal."

"Ouch."

"Well, I'm over it. If he doesn't want to talk to me, then that's fine. I knew it was a bad idea to get into a 'casual relationship' with him in the first place."

Marty didn't quite know what to say. He had never thought of Rory to be the casual relationship kind of girl in the first place. He also noticed that she sounded remarkably not bitter about the whole thing. "That's too bad, though. I'm sorry."

"Hey it's not your fault."

Then there was silence.

Neither knew how much time had passed, both lost in thought, but Rory spoke up again, "Hey Marty? This is really nice." She turned towards him and smiled.

He smiled back. "Yeah, it is. Thanks for coming out here with me today."

………………………………….

Lorelai rang the doorbell, and stood staring at the giant, wood doors that she had waited in front of so many times before. She had the same apprehensive feelings as she did that time five years ago when she had showed up on her parents' doorstep psyching herself up to ask for money to pay for Chilton. The difference this time was that her parents were expecting her. And she wasn't planning on asking them for help. So why was she so nervous?

A maid finally opened the door, and Lorelai stepped in.

Richard rounded the corner then, greeting her when he saw her. "Well, hello, Lorelai. It's nice to see you."

"Hey Dad, nice to see you too. New bowtie?" she asked, motioning towards his blue, striped bowtie.

Richard smiled, "Why, yes it is new! Thank you for noticing."

"Richard! I hope you're ready for dinner! They should be here soo—." Emily's voice had drifted through the house, and stopped short when she saw Lorelai. "Oh, Lorelai, you're here."

The foyer had just become as cold as the Arctic Tundra.

"Hey Mom."

"Where's Rory?" Emily asked, looking at the door. Lorelai realized that Emily was probably relying on Rory to be her buffer as well. Poor kid.

"Uh, well, you know how Rory's taking that summer class? She stayed there today to work on some homework with a friend of hers. She should be here soon."

"Oh. Good… Well, let's sit down in the living room while we wait. You want a drink, Lorelai?."

"Yeah, a Martini would be great, Mom, thanks."

Dinner was business as usual at the Gilmore house except for the giant elephant in the room. Things were tense, things were awkward, but no one said anything about the reason why they were in this situation. They just tried to carry on like it was any of the other Friday Night Dinners that had taken place over the past five years. It was definitely emotionally and physically draining.

…………………………………………

Lorelai took no heed to the "Closed" sign on the door, and walked in to the diner, hearing the bells jingling above the door. As she sat at the table near the door, she saw Luke's head peek around the doorway from the kitchen.

"Hey, I'll be right out." He smiled, and then disappeared again.

She noticed the way his face sprang to life at the sight of her, and it induced the lift-off of a thousand butterflies within her.

She looked over, and saw some coffee still remaining in the coffee pot, enough for just one more cup, she thought. Even if it was stale and tasted like gym sock water, it was better than no coffee. Behind the counter, she found her usual giant, oversized, two-toned blue coffee mug, and poured herself the remaining contents of the coffeepot.

She took a sip, and it tasted wonderful. She had the sneaking suspicion that he brewed the pot especially for her, because he knew she'd be coming in after dinner. She smiled to herself as she took another sip, letting the warmth relax her some.

She sat back down at the counter this time, and called to him, "what are ya doin' back there?"

Luke reappeared from the kitchen doorway. "All done. I was just finishing cleaning the stove." After looking at her for a moment, he leaned forward on the counter, and said just above a whisper, "Come here." She leaned forward, and her lips met his in a lingering kiss.

"So, how did it go?" Luke asked, continuing to put things away behind the counter.

Lorelai sighed, "Alright, I guess. It was a bit awkward, but I could tell that my mother was making an effort, and thank goodness I had Rory there."

Luke smiled. "I'm glad. It was a big step for both of you."

"Yeah, there was definitely some progress made tonight." She ran a hand over her face, "Man, I'm so tired!"

Luke waked around the counter and took her in his arms in a comforting hug. She gave into it, leaning against him, her head on his shoulder, letting him hold her up.

"I think I'm going to head home now, and just crawl into bed. I can barely stand anymore. Trying to be nice to my mother is exhausting," her voice was muffled in Luke's flannelled shoulder.

Luke gave her a quick squeeze before releasing her. "Well, I'm finished here, so I'll head home right now with you."

After locking up the diner and turning off the lights, they each drove home in their respective vehicles. On the way there, Luke's thoughts were occupied with Lorelai and her current situation with her mother. He knew how hard it was for Lorelai to forgive her mother and act like everything was back to normal, and that dinner tonight was probably incredibly awkward and draining. It was most likely more difficult than Lorelai let on, and she needed him right now even if she didn't admit it. He'd be there for her any way she'd let him, and he knew exactly what she needed right now—sleep and comfort.

He arrived at home after Lorelai, and as he walked in the front door, he could hear her in the bathroom getting ready for bed. He went upstairs to the bedroom, changed into some sweatpants and a t-shirt, and turned down the bed. By the time he was finished, she sleepily shuffled out of the bathroom wearing his blue flannel. He, on the way to the bathroom, stopped for a moment, caught her with his left arm, kissed her forehead and said, "I'll be there in a minute," before releasing her and continuing his trek to the bathroom.

By the time he got back to the bedroom, Lorelai looked like she was already sleeping, lying on her back with her eyes closed. He climbed into bed, underneathunder the covers and turned out the light.

"Lorelai?" he called softly.

"Mmm?"

"Come here." He rolled onto his side, pulling her towards him. Knowing what he was doing, she turned her back toward him so he was now spooning her; she was cradled against him, his arm wrapped tightly around her.

She smiled at Luke's ability to anticipate her needs. She would never admit to him that she needed to be held that way at that moment. He just knew. After her incredibly stressful night with her parents, it was exactly what she needed.

She settled herself against him and drifted off to sleep.

…………………………………….

Lorelai arrived home as the sun was going down after a long day at the inn. She walked in the front door to find Luke on the couch flipping through channels on the TV. He turned around as she walked into the room, greeting her. Her shoulders were slumped, and she shuffled towards him, obviously exhausted. As she sat down, she greeted him with a soft kiss, and then turned and fell backwards against him, closing her eyes and letting out a deep sigh.

"I am so tired."

Luke placed his arm across her shoulders, guiding her to rest her head on his shoulder. "Hard day?"

"Yes. Everything that could have happened did happen. And I'd rather not talk about it right now. I want this day to go away." She sighed.

Luke softly ran his fingers through her hair, knowing that it soothed her, feeling her relax beneath his touch. "Things will be fine." he said. "Hey, did you eat dinner?"

"Yeah, Sookie made us some food when it was obvious that we'd be there for a few more hours."

"Okay...so, you probably want to get to bed, huh?"

He was still running his fingers through her hair, and it felt so good, so calming, that she didn't want to move just yet. She could feel the stress of the day leaving as the moments passed by. "Nah, I'll stay here for a little while longer. Keep doing what you're doing," she said with a contented smile on her face. "Plus, it's early still. We could watch a movie or something."

"I thought you were tired."

"I'm tired, but not sleepy."

"What's the difference?"

Lorelai sighed, "I'm too tired to explain it now."

"Okay. fine. I think I get it anyway."

There were a few moments of comfortable silence, Lorelai trying to think of what movie to subject Luke to next, and Luke just enjoying these few silent moments with Lorelai. Then he remembered something, and spoke up, "Oh hey, remember those plans I had made for us last week when you had to go to Friday Night Dinner?"

"Yeah?"

"I rescheduled for this Saturday. Is that good for you?"

"Sounds great," she said, with a little more energy. "So, what are we doing?"

"It's a surprise," he said, matter-of-factly

Lorelai sat up, and turned towards him, the spark returning to her eyes. His hand withdrew from her hair to rest on her shoulders.

"Ooohhhh, I love surprises!"

"I know you do."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you. It won't be a surprise anymore," he said dryly.

"Oh, come on, Luke!" She repositioned herself so that she was in his lap, facing him and straddling his legs. "Just tell me," she said in a deep, husky tone, her face just a mere inch away from his.

"Are you trying to seduce me into telling you?" He showed no signs of giving in.

"Luke Danes! Why ever would you think that?" She said in an overly dramatic voice.

"Hey, weren't we supposed to watch a movie?"

"Luke!"

…………………………………………

This Friday, it was just Lorelai, Emily, and Rory at dinner. Richard was on business in Springfield for the weekend.

"So, Lorelai, how's that inn of yours?" Emily asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence at the dinner table.

"Oh, it's fine. We had a few issues a few days ago, everything seemed to go wrong all in one day. I kind of felt like Shelley Long in _The Money Pit._ Except the inn is already built, and it was all in one day." Lorelai said, stabbing her fork into a piece of steak.

Rory gave Lorelai a strange look.

Okay, not her best material. The still remaining awkwardness of spending time with her mother was clouding her ability to use appropriate pop-culture references.

"Is everything okay now?" Emily asked.

"Oh yeah, back to business as usual." She nodded.

There were a few moments of silence before Emily spoke up again. "I haven't seen the place since right before it opened. Maybe I'll take another trip to Stars Hollow, and you can show me around your inn."

"Well, Mom, not much has changed since a year ago."

Rory shot her a look that said "Give her a chance."

"But um, sure, Mom, come on down anytime, and I'll give you the official tour!"

"Sounds nice. Maybe someday this week."

…………………………………………

_**Saturday**_

"You ready to go?" Luke asked called from the couch. Lorelai was upstairs still getting ready.

He had grabbed his clothes and gotten ready in the bathroom, finishing about twenty minutes ago, and she was still in the bedroom, primping.

"Almost!" he heard her voice through the bedroom door.

Luke knew that meant he'd be sitting there for at least ten more minutes. He found the baseball game on TV, and settled himself on the couch.

Finally, Lorelai was descending the stairs wearing Luke's favorite dress of hers. It was the same color as her blue eyes, and he loved that it seemed to make her eyes look even bigger and brighter than usual. "Alright, I'm ready. You can stop having a cow now. You're wearing a suit?" Her sentences ran together as she noticed that he was more dressed up tonight than she's seen him in a long time.

"Yeah, is there a problem?" he asked, standing up.

"No! It's just... you don't wear suits that often. You look really nice. I mean, not that you don't look nice usually, you just look... extra nice tonight." She realized she was rambling.

"I knew what you meant. And you look beautiful."

"Thanks, hon." she smiled. "Ready to go?"

They had been together for over a year now, and she couldn't understand why she was all nervous and rambly tonight. The fact that he planned this thing as 'a surprise', and the fact that he was wearing a suit rose her suspicions about what these plans for the night were.

"So, where are we going?"

"I told you, it's a surprise."

"Man, I thought I'd get it out of you that time!" Lorelai said in defeat, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

Luke simply rolled his eyes, loving how much she wanted to know what the evening's plans were.

There was silence for a few moments until Lorelai turned towards Luke suddenly, and poked him in the shoulder. "So, where are we going?"

"Lorelai!" he looked at her sideways, and had a tighter grip on the steering wheel, visibly annoyed.

And this is how the car ride went all the way to the town of Bantam where Luke stopped the car in front of a fancy, expensive-looking restaurant.

"This is where we're going," he said flatly, with a half-smile.

"Thank you. Was that so hard?" she answered as he had gotten out of the truck to walk around to open her door for her.

When they entered the restaurant, Lorelai immediately began to study her surroundings. This definitely was a beautiful, fancy place. Romantic too.

Luke was talking to the Maitre d' and he didn't look too happy. Lorelai, who was a few feet behind, where she had stalled to take in her surroundings, moved to stand at Luke's side.

"What do you mean there's no reservations under the name Luke Danes? I called last week and spoke to Steve."

"I'm sorry, sir. Steve isn't here right now, and I don't have your name written down in the book."

"Let me see the book." Luke was getting increasingly irritated. His plans were already screwed up, and it was only the first part of his plan. Well, it was the most important part of his plan, because this is where his plan was going to be carried out.

"We can't show you the book, sir."

"Why not?"

"Restaurant policy."

Luke took a deep breath, and Lorelai, knowing how upset he was becoming, wrapped an arm around his, trying to ground him and calm him down a little.

Leaning in closer to the Maitre d' and speaking more quietly, Luke asked, "What if I give you a fifty?"

"Sorry sir, bribery isn't going to work. This is a very busy night here, and we need our tables for people that we have on the reservation list.

"Come on, Luke, let's just go somewhere else." Lorelai didn't see the use in arguing with the guy when it seemed futile anyhow.

"No, I don't want to go somewhere else. I had a plan." He shouted, waving his arms around wildly.

Lorelai was a bit confused as to what this big plan was, but she firmly grasped his arm, forced him to look at her, and spoke sweetly, "Please, Luke? I'm sure we can get great food somewhere else."

"No, my name was on that reservation list, and that guy just isn't looking hard enough!" Luke's attention was turned to Lorelai now.

"Luke, if the guy says your name isn't there, it isn't there! Let's go, people are staring!" she said, pulling on his arm towards the door.

When they got back out into the truck, there was a short silence until Lorelai asked where else he wanted to go for dinner. He didn't answer.

"Come on, Luke, what's the big deal!" Lorelai asked, exasperated. Now she was getting a bit upset. Luke seemed much more irritable than usual, and she just didn't get it.

Luke erupted, "The big deal is that we were supposed to be in that restaurant, sitting outside on the private balcony overlooking the river. It was supposed to be romantic, damn it!"

Lorelai's features softened at that. "Luke, we can have a romantic dinner some other time. Tonight it just didn't work out. Let's just find somewhere to eat."

"But now we're all overdressed, and everything. I don't know of any other fancy-pants restaurants in the area, so anywhere we go, we'll be overdressed…"

Lorelai cut him off before he went into full-on rant mode. "Fine, let's just go get some take-out and go home." She didn't understand his mood. Yes, he would normally get a bit cranky if a restaurant lost his reservations, but he was downright pissy right now, and it was rubbing off on her.

"Fine." Luke grumbled, feeling bad that the whole night was ruined.

They drove for a few minutes in silence, Luke fuming over the fact that his big plans were wrecked until he saw a sign on the side of the road that said "Bantam Lake" with an arrow pointing down a side road. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. If he were a cartoon character, a little light bulb would have appeared above him. Without a word, Luke turned the truck down the road heading towards the lake.

"Umm… where are we going?" Lorelai asked with her brow furrowed.

"You'll see," he said. She thought she saw a small smile playing at his lips.

"You're not taking me out into the middle of nowhere to kill me and dispose of my body by shooting it through a woodchipper into the lake like that Richard Crafts guy did to his wife back in the 80's at Lake Zoar, are you?"

"You are crazy, do you know that?" Luke said, obviously in a bit of a better mood than just minutes ago.

"Yes, actually I did. But thank you," Lorelai said with a giddy smile, noticing the lightening of his mood.

Soon, Luke pulled off of the main road onto a dirt road into the woods.

"Oh, I know what you're doing. You're leaving me for the Melonheads to eat."

"The what?" his face was scrunched up in confusion.

"You know, the little, deformed men with the big heads who hang out in the woods of Michigan waiting to eat people who intrude on their land."

"Where do you get this stuff?"

"I have my sources."

Luke rolled his eyes. "No, I am not leading you to the Melonheads, and it's impossible anyway, because as you said, they live in Michigan," Luke deadpanned.

"They could have migrated."

"You talk about these things as if they're real."

"They are! People have seen them!" Lorelai said with her eyes wide, trying to convince him.

They approached a clearing at the end of the road where the emerging moonlight was bouncing off the now-visible water, surrounding everything in a soft, blue-white glow. Lorelai let out a little gasp at the scene in front of her. The wide, expansive lake stretched far, far in front of them so that you could barely see the lights of the houses across the water.

"Oh, Luke…" she breathed as he parked the truck.

Luke smiled as he went around the other side to open her door for her.

"This is beautiful," she whispered, her eyes wondering.

"I know," he said, helping her out of the truck, as she was too busy staring ahead of her to pay attention to what she was doing. "Come on, we can go for a walk along the water."

"Okay," she said, almost speechless. She was always amazed when Luke showed his romantic side like this. She took off her high heels because whoever can walk in sand in high heels belongs on 'Ripley's Believe It Or Not', and enjoyed the feel of the cool sand between her toes.

The combination of the fullness of the moon, and the reflection of the glow off of the water created plenty of light for them to be able to see clearly as they walked along the edge of the water.

"How did you find this place?" she finally asked, playing with his fingers as they walked along.

"I actually used to come fishing here with my dad. Sometimes my mom and Liz would come too, and we'd bring a picnic lunch, and eat, and catch fish all day." Luke paused for a moment. "After my dad died, I stopped coming here, and then I just sort of forgot about it until we were driving by just now, and I remembered how beautiful it was… I realized I missed this place, and I wanted you to see it too."

Lorelai loved learning about Luke's past. He didn't talk about it much; she knew it was painful because he was very close to his parents and missed them very much after they died, but once in a while she would ask him questions about what they were like. _They would have loved you,_ he had told her one time, and that was one of the sweetest things he had ever said to her.

"Well, thank you for showing me," she said just above a whisper, giving him a sweet smile which he returned.

He then realized that this was the perfect moment. This was what he's been waiting for since last week. He was nervous. He had to do it now before he lost his nerve. He looked out at the water for a few moments, thinking of the right words that he had rehearsed over and over in his mind.

Lorelai, noticing the look on his face, and the slight tremor in his hand asked him if he was okay. He took a moment to respond, but when he did, his voice was even and determined. "Yeah, I'm fine… Lorelai, I want to ask you something," he said, and turned towards her, taking both of her hands in his.

Lorelai felt the butterflies take off in her stomach, fluttering around in there and refusing to settle down as she said, "Okay." She had an inkling of what it was that he was going to ask her, and she was ready. She had been thinking about it a lately too, if he was going to asked her what she thought he was going to ask her.

He produced something from his left jacket pocket. It looked like a deep blue colored, velvet jewelry box, and she now knew, without a doubt, what was coming. She couldn't stop the tears forming in her eyes, threatening to spill over.

He began to speak, his voice sounding shaky, "Lorelai, I—I know you know that I'm not…really good with, you know, words, but I wanted to tell you that you know that I love you so much, and…" he opened the jewelry box revealing a sparkling engagement ring, "I was wondering if you'd… marry me." His clear blue eyes looked confidently into hers even though he was shaking on the inside.

Lorelai's hand covered her mouth. She was absolutely speechless. She nodded, unable to speak, as a tear spilled over onto her cheek.

"Yes?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes!" she finally squeaked out.

They enveloped each other in a fierce embrace before Luke pulled back to slip the ring onto her finger. "It was my mother's," he said quietly.

Lorelai cherished the ring even more because of that fact. She stood in silence for a moment, admiring it in the moonlight. From what she could tell, the stone in the middle looked like a light blue-colored stone, probably an Aquamarine, and there were a couple of tiny, sparkling diamonds surrounding it.

"Luke, thank you, it's beautiful," she said looking up at him. "I love you so much," she breathed before cupping his face in her hands, thumbs lightly caressing his cheeks, and pulling him to her for a soft kiss. That's how it started out, anyway, soft, and gentle. The way he kissed her back was one of the gentlest kisses she's ever felt. But soon, the passion kicked in, and all the love they felt for each other was poured into their kisses, and the whole world flickered and whirled away from them as they were lost in each other and their love.

When they pulled away, breathless, the only sound was their breathing and the noise of the small waves lapping against the shore until Lorelai spoke up, "I'm hungry."

Luke chuckled. Leave it to Lorelai to ruin the moment. "You're always hungry."

"I know, but it's late and I haven't eaten since noon."

"Come on, let's get some food." He said, guiding her back towards the truck with his hand at the small of her back.

"Hey, do you mind if I call Rory?"

"Of course not. Call her. I know you two have… things to discuss," he answered with a knowing smile.

Lorelai smiled as she took out her phone and hit speed dial number 2. She heard her daughter's voice on the other end of the phone.

"Rory, guess what!"


	4. Gold

_**Gold**_

_August, 2005_

Wedding plans were underway. Luke and Lorelai had set the date for October fourth, both agreeing that it was the ideal time of year to have an outdoor wedding. October in Connecticut was still warm on most days, but not too warm. And the changing of the colors of the trees from green to all shades of red, yellow, gold, and orange would create the perfect atmosphere.

Lorelai had chosen Rory to be the maid of honor, of course, and Rory couldn't have been happier to spend the rest of the summer planning her mother's wedding with her.

Luke had called up Jess and asked him to be his best man. He didn't know if Jess would want to do it because he remembered the resistance Jess had to walking his mother down the aisle for her wedding last year, but Luke didn't really have any other close family or friends, so he thought he'd at least ask.

-----

"Hey Jess… it's Luke"

"Hey, how's it going?"

"Pretty good, pretty good… hey, I wanted to ask you something…"

"Shoot."

"Well, Lorelai and I… are, well, getting married…"

"I knew it! I've been waiting for this call since I saw the two of you dance at Mom's wedding last year." The sarcastic, mocking undertones were definitely present.

"Yeah, well, you're about the hundredth person that's said that to me, but anyway, I was wondering if… you'd be my best man?"

"…yeah, sure."

"Okay, well, the wedding's in October, so I'll give you more details as we get closer."

"Alright, cool."

"Thanks, Jess."

"No prob."

…………………………………

"Mom, are you serious?" Lorelai asked with a disgusted look on her face.

"Oh just try it on, Lorelai. It's a classy, sophisticated dress."

"No, it's boring is what it is," Lorelai said, looking at the dress with her face all scrunched up in protest.

"It is not boring. I think you should try on something that doesn't make you look like a personified cloud, or some sort of unshorn sheep."

Rory sat in the corner observing her mother and her grandmother argue over dresses-- all day. She'd done her share of choosing dresses for Lorelai to try on, but any of the ones that Lorelai and Rory both liked, Emily made a face at and would pick out another instead. Finally Rory gave up and retreated to the corner to watch. "Mom, just try the thing on."

Lorelai gasped, her eyes growing wide. "Whose side are you on?"

"I'm not on anyone's side. Just try it on, and show Grandma how it looks. It doesn't mean you have to buy it," she said, sinking lower into her chair with a sigh. Rory had loved the idea of helping Lorelai pick out a wedding dress, in theory. But it turned out to be like a tennis match of "Oh, just try it on!" "No." "Oh, come on!" "No!" between her mother and grandmother, and it was getting old.

"Boy, you're grumpy," Lorelai answered, then sighed. "Fine, I'll try it on."

"Thank you," said both Rory and Emily in unison.

-------

When Emily had asked Lorelai if she could help her pick out a wedding dress, Lorelai was a bit skeptical. But with a little encouragement from Luke, '_You guys have really made progress lately. This could help it along a little more,'_ she realized that she could at least let Emily help with this small detail of the wedding.

Emily and Richard had been the second ones to know about the engagement. Lorelai had been nervous to tell them, and Luke was even more nervous, but they had decided that it was only right that her parents should be the second ones to know, so after breakfast the morning after the engagement, Luke and Lorelai drove to Hartford to tell them in person.

The Gilmores' reaction was nothing like Lorelai had expected. She half expected her mother to be her usual condescending self to Luke, and tell Lorelai that she was doing something terribly wrong. She had expected to come out of there crying. But it actually went well. Freakishly well, in fact. She could tell that her mother was really making an effort to keep her comments at bay, and though there was no hugging involved, the most important thing was that Emily seemed to be trying, and she seemed to have realized that the most important thing was that her daughter was happy.

"Why don't you come to Friday night dinner this week, Luke?" Emily had offered as Lorelai looked on in shock. Luke glanced at Lorelai and hesitantly accepted.

Dinner that Friday had gone well, and seemed to go better every week, until one Friday at the end of July, Emily took Lorelai aside and apologized to her for judging Luke as she did, and admitted that he seemed like a "very respectable man". That meant a lot coming from Emily Gilmore. Lorelai found out later that Emily had also taken the time to apologize to Luke himself, and that had meant even more to Lorelai.

-------

The golden rays of the setting sun glittered into the bridal shop's windows by the time that Lorelai had chosen a dress and the three women were leaving.

Lorelai had finally landed on a dress that all three of them loved. It was a beautiful white dress, the strapless top was fitted perfectly, showing off her delicate shoulders and arms, and the skirt of the dress was sheer and flowing, but fluffed out just enough. Hints of tiny gold sparkles could be seen shining in the light as the fabric moved. Lorelai felt like a fairy princess while wearing this dress. It was perfect.

During the car ride home, Lorelai daydreamed about her wedding day, and of wearing that dress. She pictured herself and Luke standing underneath the chuppah together, promising to love each other for the rest of their lives.

"…right Mom? …hello, earth to Lorelai!" Rory said, looking over at her from the passenger seat of the Jeep. She had been talking for the past couple of minutes and just realized that Lorelai hadn't heard a word that she said.

"What?"

"Nevermind," Rory laughed once she saw the dreamy smile on Lorelai's face, knowing pretty well what Lorelai must be thinking about.

…………………………………………

Arriving home, Lorelai asked Rory to take the dress inside. "I'm gonna hang out here for a few minutes."

"Okay. Is everything alright?" Rory asked, concerned.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine!" She smiled. "It's just so pretty out tonight, I thought I'd enjoy it for a few minutes."

"Okay. I'll be inside."

Once Rory had gone into the house, Lorelai walked over to the chuppah that was sitting over at the edge of her yard where it had been for the past four years. She stood underneath it in the dim, fading sunlight and reached out to run her fingers over the golden wood, over the beautiful carvings that Luke had painstakingly worked on. She spent a few minutes reflecting on their past together, and daydreaming about their future together. She thought about how Luke had gone through so much trouble to make this beautiful thing for her when she had almost gotten married to another man. She thought of how many times she and Luke had almost gone down paths that would have taken them away from each other, and she thanked the fates for giving them their chance together. She thought about what it will be like in just a couple of months when they stand under this chuppah together and get married to each other.

She was pulled out of her reverie by Luke's arms snaking around her waist from behind, the sound of his voice, soft and close to her ear asked, "What are you thinkin' about?"

She smiled and answered simply, "You. Us." She covered his arms with hers and leaned her head back against his chest.

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

She nodded. Then after a few moments' silence, as Luke moved to stand beside her under the chuppah, she spoke tentatively, "Hey Luke? Does it bother you that we're getting married under this chuppah when you originally made this for me under… different circumstances?"

Luke took a deep breath, "You mean when you were supposed to marry Max?"

"Yeah." She said quietly, turning to look at him.

"No," he answered confidently after a thoughtful pause.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah. I mean, the thing that matters is that you didn't marry him… or anyone else. And I made this as a gift to you; not to you and…him anyway."

Lorelai smiled and reached over to put her arm through his, taking a look around her, at the chuppah surrounding them, and at the man next to her.

………………………………………………

"So, you bringing Marty to the wedding?" Lorelai asked Rory with a knowing smile. They were sitting on the couch partaking in their last Mother-Daughter Movie Night of the summer before Rory went back to school for the semester. The coffee table was covered in junk food in proper Movie Night fashion, and they were just about to start the movie.

"Um, why would you assume that?"

"Oh come on, Rory. You know the two of you are like, practically in loooove with each other," she cooed. "You haven't spent more than ten minutes apart all summer."

Rory rolled her eyes, "Mom! We are not in love with each other!" Rory popped a marshmallow into her mouth.

"Okay, well, I know you like him a whole lot, and I know he likes you. So just ask him to go with you."

"…I don't know"

"Aww, come on. It could turn out really great for the two of you."

"I don't know; I'll see how it goes."

Halfway through the movie, Rory looked over, and Lorelai had fallen asleep. It was very un-Gilmore of her to fall asleep during a movie night, but the wedding planning had really tired her out lately. Rory took this opportunity to give Marty a call.

------

"Hey Marty."

"Oh Rory, hey!" she could practically _hear_ him smile.

"I wanted... to ask you... something."

"Sure."

"Well, you know how my mom and Luke are getting married in a couple months?" Rory didn't know why she was so nervous. This was Marty, for Pete's sake… and that was precisely why she was so nervous.

"Yeah..."

"Well, I was wondering if you'd go to the wedding with me... as… my date."

"Oh… yeah, sure! That sounds like fun."

"Yeah? You don't have to if you don't want to. It was just an idea."

"No, I want to. I do." He had been caught a little off-guard by her question, which is where the hesitation in his answer had come from, but in actuality, he was thrilled that she asked.

"Okay, great! Well…" there was an awkward pause. "I'll let you get back to what you were doing. I was just watching a movie with my mom anyway, so I'm gonna go… finish watching. I'll call you tomorrow." Rory was glad that he agreed to go with her, and that he sounded happy to, but she still felt a bit nervous about asking him, and would rather get off the phone as quickly as possible. She'd talk to him tomorrow, and all would be normal again.

"Ok, talk to you tomorrow. 'Night, Rory."

"Goodnight."

……………………………………….

_October 4, 2005_

The day of the wedding had arrived. Lorelai awoke in the morning feeling like she was buzzing with excitement. She turned over in bed, and saw that Luke was already awake also.

They both agreed that the tradition of bride and groom not seeing each other on their wedding day until the wedding was stupid and archaic, so there they were, in bed together on their wedding morning, and they couldn't stop smiling at each other. They felt goofy and a bit foolish— Lorelai couldn't stop comparing herself to Kim MacAfee in "Bye Bye Birdie" when she got pinned by Hugo and sang that stupid, giddy song.

After lounging around in bed for a while, kissing, enjoying each other's company, and kissing some more, they finally joined the real world of last-minute wedding preparations before the big event.

Luke had to pick up Jess from the train station, while Lorelai got ready with the help of Rory and Emily. The three Gilmore girls spent the morning in preparations, talking about weddings, and about how your wedding never turns out quite as it did when you used to dream about it as a little girl; it's usually even better. Emily knew this from experience, Lorelai only knew this as far as the preparations for her own wedding had gone so far, and Rory was just enjoying listening to her mother and grandmother chat about the topic because the only experience Rory had in the area was when she was three years old and took Miss Patty's ballet class and got to play a bride in the annual Star's Hollow Young People's Opera.

………………………………

Soon, chairs were set up in the back yard of the Dragonfly, the chuppah was standing in place with golden, yellow roses decorating it, people were dressed, make-up was done, and guests were arriving.

Lorelai and Luke had written their own vows; Luke had resisted at first, but soon realized it was something special to write one's own vows for their wedding. And, even more so, he knew it meant a lot to Lorelai.

As the music started, and Lorelai began her journey down the aisle on her father's arm, she locked eyes with Luke's and they didn't take their gaze away. Lorelai always imagined that she'd feel nervous at her wedding, but she didn't. She felt an intense feeling of calm as she looked into Luke's eyes. She knew this was right beyond a doubt, and as she arrived underneath the chuppah, she gave Luke a confident, loving smile which he returned.

The ceremony was beautiful, and very surreal to Lorelai. This was something she had been beginning to think would never happen for her before she had fallen in love with Luke a little over a year ago, but here she was, standing in front of Luke at their wedding, and they were about to say their vows.

"Lorelai, you know I'm not very good with words…but you know I have loved you for a long time-- even years ago when I pretended not to; when I was too scared that you'd never feel the same way. I will always take care of you, and of Rory. …And I know you're crazy and I'll probably want to kill you on a daily basis, but that will just make it more fun." He chuckled at that last part, and then added seriously, "Here's to the rest of our lives together."

Lorelai smiled genuinely at him, and began to recite her own vows, "Luke, remember that time I came to you crying about how I felt I'd never have "the whole package"? And you told me that I'd get it someday because you just knew? Well, you were right, and it was right in front of me, but it took me so long to realize it. I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't finally opened our eyes to each other. I love you so much, and I look forward to growing very, very old with you. And your coffee." She added that last part and giggled to lighten the serious tone that her vows had taken.

Minutes later, the conclusion of the ceremony prompted a loud cheering from everyone in attendance. The marriage that everyone had been waiting for for the past ten years had finally come about and everyone knew it would last forever. As Luke and Lorelai walked up the aisle with new, shining gold wedding bands decorating each of their left ring fingers, they swore they saw the good people of Stars Hollow paying off bets. Luke sighed in annoyance and Lorelai giggled. "Oh, come on, don't you love that everyone was betting on us getting married?"

…………………………………

The reception was one of Stars Hollow's best celebrations in history, and as everyone knows, Stars Hollow has a ton of celebrations.

Everyone from town was there, plus Richard and Emily, Jess, Liz and TJ, Buddy and Maisie, Marty, and Paris.

Lane's band had been more than happy to play at the reception. Zach had gotten a bit cranky about having to learn a number of slow songs, he whined, _That's _**so**_ not rock and roll!_ But Lane was able to convince him, _People dance at weddings, Zach. How do you slow dance to a White Stripes song, huh? I sure as hell don't think it's possible!_

-----

After dancing a few slow dances together, which were surprisingly not awkward, Rory and Marty took some time to hang out on the outskirts of the party by themselves for a while.

"Thanks for coming tonight, Marty. It was really nice."

"Hey, no problem. I loved being here."

"The wedding was beautiful."

"Yeah, it was." Marty moved a bit closer to Rory.

"And the twinkle lights make it feel all fairytale-ish."

"Yeah, they do," Marty almost whispered, facing Rory now.

"And the dancing was..." she looked up at Marty who was looking at her.

"Perfect." he finished her sentence for her just before leaning in the rest of the way and kissing her softly.

He was a bit surprised at first when Rory so readily returned the gesture, but quickly lost all ability to think until they separated from the kiss. Both smiled at each other then with the realization that they were no longer in limbo between friends and more-than-friends. This had just catapulted them into more-than-friends territory, and they couldn't be happier.

………………………………………

"Come make out with me in the horse stables," Lorelai whispered into Luke's ear with a slight giggle as they swayed slowly on the dance floor.

Luke jumped a little and whispered, "Not now!"

Lorelai feigned offense. "Why not!"

Luke leaned closer to her. "There's too many people around," he murmured. "Someone's going to notice that we're missing."

"Oh, come on, Luke!" Lorelai whined, gripping onto his arm.

Luke looked at her sternly and worked his jaw, clearly considering the idea.

A bright smile slowly grew across Lorelai's face, and she tugged on his arm once more before he followed her around the building. As soon as they were around the corner and out of sight, her lips were on his. They didn't even make it to the horse stables, which was a far better place to hide.

"Finally," she murmured against his lips. "There are too many people around."

He pulled away from her face for a second, his hands still lingering on the sides of her cheeks, "Lorelai, it's our wedding, and I think _you_ invited all these people."

"Why didn't you stop me? We haven't had a moment to ourselves. I've been wanting to kiss you like this all day." She pulled his face back towards hers, and they kissed slowly and passionately, thoroughly enjoying their first moments alone as 'man and wife', Lorelai savoring the feeling of being securely held between Luke's body and the wall of the building.

They stayed like this until the sound of footsteps prompted them to part and look in the direction the noise was coming from. "Oh, sorry kids! Carry on!" a very drunk Miss Patty said as she turned and stumbled back the other way.

"Where was she going?"

"I don't know. She was drunk. Maybe she was going to pee in the woods?"

"Lorelai..."

"Sorry. It happens. Especially considering she made the punch."

Luke chuckled. "We probably should be getting back before people realize we're missing."

Lorelai sighed. "I suppose. Besides, we'll have plenty of time to ourselves tonight," she said, grinning.

Luke smiled. "That we will." he held out his hand, and they walked back to their wedding reception hand in hand.


	5. Pink

_A/N: Thanks so much to by betas iheartbridges, sosmitten, and greenlineprods. You guys all helped immensely._

_Disclaimer: I don't own these characters._

_**Pink**_

_October, 2005_

"Yes! I get to see you in shorts!" Lorelai said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"We can go somewhere warm, but that doesn't mean you get to see me in shorts," Luke replied as he continued his way around the diner clearing off tables.

"I'll get to see those white chicken legs of yours parading around the beach." Lorelai sat down at a stool at the counter just as Luke came around behind it.

"No you won't, and I don't have white chicken legs." He said gruffly, leaning over the counter.

"Oh yes you do, mister," Lorelai replied, pointing her finger in his face. "Those legs never see the light of day. It's a wonder they're not see-through. Maybe they are and I just don't know it because the only time I see them is in the dark… and yes you will."

"Lorelai…" he said in a warning tone.

This was the conversation Luke and Lorelai had when deciding on where to go for their honeymoon. At first, they were apprehensive about going on a honeymoon. They wanted to, but Lorelai was nervous about leaving the Dragonfly for so many days, it still being a fairly new business, and Luke was equally uneasy about leaving Caesar and Lane in charge of the diner. But Sookie and Michel assured Lorelai that running the Dragonfly without her for a week was no problem, as did Caesar and Lane about the diner.

Once that was settled, they couldn't wait to get away together, to have a whole week to themselves with nothing to worry about. It didn't really matter where they went, as long as they could relax with each other, enjoy being newlyweds, and do whatever they pleased without having to be anywhere at any particular time.

They decided on somewhere in the U.S., and narrowed it down to the east coast. But south of Connecticut, so they would be guaranteed warm weather in October.

"Florida could be nice. They've got beaches and stuff, and we can stay somewhere near Disney World!" Lorelai had said excitedly.

"No. No Disney World."

"Come on, Luke! I have to introduce you to Mickey Mouse."

"No, I am not going to spend my time at a place that caused the tearing down of acres and acres of land in order to put in a bunch of stupid amusement park rides, exhibits that make no sense, and is the home to stupid, happy happy characters skipping around and freaking out all the little kids."

Lorelai laughed. "Thank you."

"Luke was puzzled. "For what?"

"I didn't really want to go to Disney World; I just wanted to hear you rant about it." She smiled mischievously.

------------

The honeymoon was nothing like either of them expected. They both had always thought of honeymoons as times when newlywed couples went away together to do little more than lounge around in bed, order room service, and make love for a week before they had to get back to their real lives and work. But this was not really how it went, and it was more realistic, and better that way. Of course, they spent _a lot_ of time in bed enjoying each other, but there were also breakfasts on the balcony overlooking the ocean; pink, orange, and yellow sunsets to watch; and days spent at the beach enjoying the sun and each other's company.

"No, you are not wearing jeans," Lorelai exclaimed, wide-eyed at Luke as they prepared to go to the beach.

"Um, I think I am," Luke answered

"No you're not! Who in the _world_ wears jeans to the beach?"

"Apparently I do," he answered.

"Well, fine, but don't complain to me when you've got sand all up in your pants."

And there was one night when the beach was secluded, the moon was shining and glittering off the water and it reminded Lorelai of the night Luke proposed. After a little persuasion on Lorelai's part, and the skillful use of her new bikini, she convinced Luke to make love to her on the beach. Afterwards, when their breathing had slowed, and they had returned to earth, Lorelai scooted up higher from her perch on his chest and kissed Luke and congratulated him for committing the ultimate public display of affection.

He dropped one of her curls that he had been twirling around his finger, and started to get up, his eyes darting around the beach, his cheeks turning pink, visible even in the dim light of the glowing moon. "What! Are there people around?"

Lorelai kissed him soundly on the lips. "Calm down! There is no one around. It's dark, the beach is completely deserted and we are hidden _really_ well. Plus, this blanket is really huge. If someone were to walk by and see us, they'd probably just think we were a couple of teenagers making out."

Luke rolled his eyes, and after a few moments of silence, of listening to the wind and the calming, rushing noise of the waves, he started to squirm around.

"What's wrong? Lorelai asked, looking at him in amusement.

"Stupid sand," he replied, "How does it have the ability to… get… everywhere?" he asked, motioning vaguely with his hands.

Lorelai giggled. "I don't know, but I'm having the same trouble here. Let's do something about it."

After hastily getting dressed between the two beach blankets, they gathered up their things, and quickly returned to their hotel room, and promptly jumped into the shower together.

"Conserves water," stated Lorelai with a smirk.

--------------------------------------

_early September, 2006_

Lorelai knocked on Sookie's door one Saturday morning, and then proceeded to do, what looked to the untrained eye, like 'the pee-pee dance' until Sookie opened the door. "Hey, come on in!" Sookie greeted her wearing an apron, wiping her hands on a towel and opened the door wider to let Lorelai in.

"Is Jackson here?" Lorelai asked as soon as Sookie closed the door.

"Um, no, he's not. Why? And what's the matter?"

Lorelai continued to nervously fidget. "Good. I need to talk to you. Alone. Girl Talk."

"Oooh, Girl Talk! I love Girl Talk! Sit down. Want some coffee? Or cookies? I just baked them this morning, and they're amazing, if I do say so myself."

Sookie started skittering towards the kitchen until Lorelai called out, "Not now, Sook! I need to talk first. Then we can commence with the cookie-ing and the coffee-ing."

"Alright." Sookie sat down on the couch next to Lorelai. "Okay, so what's up?"

She hesitated for a second and then blurted out, "I think I'm pregnant!"

Sookie's eyes widened and her hands immediately flew to her mouth. "You're-- you're pregnant?" she squealed, and Lorelai's nervous smile grew wider at her friend's enthusiasm.

"Well, I just think I am; I don't know yet."

"What did Luke say when you told him?"

Lorelai paused. "Ummm..."

"You didn't tell him yet? Why didn't you tell him yet?" Sookie asked with her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Because I don't even know for sure yet and there's no need to get him all freaked out if it's not even true." Lorelai cast her eyes down to the couch and was tracing the patterns that she found there with her eyes.

"Honey, why do you think he'd freak out? Not in a bad way, right?"

Lorelai sighed and looked back up at Sookie. "I don't know. Before we got married, we talked about it, and we both said we'd like kids together someday. And I know it's been almost a year, but things have been crazy, and we haven't really talked about it since."

"Lorelai, Luke loves you, and he'll love the child you have together. Even if the timing isn't the greatest, he's not going to freak out. And as your best friend, I think I have the right to point out that you're not getting any younger. This might be a good time to have a baby."

Lorelai sighed, "Yeah, I know. Ticking biological clock, and all that." She paused before adding, "But it's all just a huge surprise, and Luke's not always that good with surprises."

"Well, honey, I think you need to go home right now, and tell Luke. I think you guys need to talk about this together, you need to take a pregnancy test, and then go from there. Everything will be fine."

"But what about the cookies?" Lorelai pouted.

Sookie giggled. "Go."

"Okay."

"And call me later. I want to know how it went," she said, as Lorelai exited Sookie's house.

"Will do."

------------------

Lorelai opened the diner door with a flourish, and without stopping, she breezed past Luke, motioned to the stairs, and continued up them to his old apartment, which was now actually an office again. He met her inside within a few seconds and closed the door behind him.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Um, I have to talk to you about something," she stated nervously, pacing back and forth while wringing her hands.

She noticed the confusion and worry cross his features as he nodded and guided her over to his old couch to sit down with him.

"Luke... umm... okay... you know how before we got married we talked about having kids someday? That it was something we both wanted?" she looked at him and was encouraged by his small nod. "Yeah, well, I wasn't sure what 'someday' meant. I mean does that mean in a few years, or a few months, or right about now...?"

Lorelai saw a number of emotions run across his face until he was basically unreadable as he calmly, but with a slightly shaking voice started, "Lorelai... what--"

"I think I might be pregnant, Luke." She tried to hold his gaze, but anxiousness overtook her, and suddenly, her fingers were incredibly fascinating to her as the silence in the room grew to almost deafening heights.

"Luke, say something," Lorelai whispered after what seemed like an eternity. He had his arms around her in a fraction of a second, and then spoke softly as he soothingly rubbed her back. "Okay, have you taken... um… a pregnancy test?"

"Um, no, not yet," she answered into his shoulder.

He pulled back from her a bit and looked at her. "Well, why don't you get one from Doose's, and take it right now?"

"If I get it from Doose's the whole town will know!"

"Lorelai, who cares if the whole town knows? We are married. We can have kids whenever we want. I just want to know whether or not you're really pregnant."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay. I'll go get one right now."

"Do… ah… do you want me to come with you?"

"No, no. Not necessary." she smiled slightly, and ran her fingers over his cheek. "I'll be right back."

-----------

Soon, Lorelai returned to the office above the diner. Walking in, she smiled tentatively and shook the paper bag containing the pregnancy test. "Here it is."

Luke swallowed and nodded slightly. "There it is."

"Well, I'm gonna go take this… I'll be right out," she said with a slight tremor in her voice.

"Oh yeah, sure. Take your time, I'll be out here." He gestured at her to go into the bathroom, and he took a seat on the couch to wait. He didn't know why it was all so tense and weird. They should be elated. This could be their first child together. He should have jumped for joy, and wrapped her in his arms and congratulated her the second that he found out that it was a possibility. But there was a strange vibe. Lorelai was so nervous, and he really didn't understand why. They had talked about the topic of children once, and both agreed that they wanted a child together. And it's been almost a year that they've been married. To Luke, it seemed like a good time to have a child.

The creaking of the bathroom door pulled Luke out of his thoughts. "Hey."

"Hey, just a couple of minutes." She stood outside the bathroom door awkwardly.

"Okay. Come here." He gestured for her to come over to him, and she sat sideways in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder, breathing in his scent and feeling comforted already. He tightened his arms around her, and after a short pause, spoke soothingly to her, "You know I'm okay with this, right?"

She was still for a moment, then he felt her nod her head against him.

"Hey, look at me," he urged gently. After a moment, Lorelai lifted her head and looked into his eyes. "Really, Lorelai, however it turns out, I'm fine with it. Just relax, and we'll know in a minute."

She was comforted by his words and the honesty she saw in his eyes, but the tension of the past few hours was still weighing her down, and she sighed heavily and leaned her forehead against his.

After a few minutes of waiting together, Lorelai glanced at her watch and realized that it was time to check the pregnancy test. She took in a shaky breath. "It's time," she said softly, and they both got off the couch together and walked to the bathroom hand in hand, to check on the test together.

"A pink plus sign… um, Luke, we're going to have a baby," she said, standing completely still and staring at the test.

Luke unsuccessfully tried to hide his happiness until he gauged her reaction. "Wow. Wow. This is… Wow."

Lorelai was silent for a few more moments, and Luke began to feel nervous. _She doesn't want this. Thinks it's too soon, that we're not ready for this..._ these thoughts, and many similar ones began whirling around in his head. But when she turned to him, threw her arms around him, and kissed him, all negative thoughts subsided with the growth of his smile, and he couldn't help but laugh and pick her up a few inches off the ground and swing her around.

She continued to hold him tightly when he returned hr feet to the ground. "Luke, I'm so sorry that I was so freaky before. I just… it's just… it's real now, and I didn't know until it turned real how much I really do want to have a baby. Now."

"Well, I kinda think you have to wait nine months first, but—."

Lorelai hit him playfully on the shoulder. Luke gently caught her wrist and pulled her to him in a tight embrace, neither could hide the huge smiles from their faces.

------------------------------

"Yeah, so this girl, who had just walked into class wearing nothing but a pink towel…"

"What?" Rory asked, wide-eyed and laughing, slapping her hand on the table.

"Yeah, she walked into class wearing nothing but a towel. But that's not the best part. Wait until you hear what the professor said…" Marty was cut off again by a laughing Rory.

"Wait, wait… wooo, okay, finish th—." Rory, was cut off this time by her ringing cell. The caller ID informed her that it was Lorelai calling, but Rory figured she'd call her back later.

"You're not gonna get that?"

"It's my mom. I'll call her back later," Rory said, placing her phone back into her purse, "Finish the story!"

"Ok, so, she drops her towel, and was _completely_ naked…"

"Eww!"

"And my professor sa--," Marty was interrupted by Rory's ringing phone again.

"Huh, it's my mom again." Rory opened the phone and answered, "Mom, is everything okay?"

"Oh…hi! Yeah… great! Everything's really good. How's the first week of classes going?"

"Pretty good, Marty and I are sharing some first-day stories." She paused for a moment. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Great, actually."

"Okay… is Luke okay?"

"Luke is great too." Lorelai was now having trouble hiding her excitement.

"Mom, what's going on? You sound like you've had a gallon of Starbucks Sumatra dark roast."

"No, it's better than the strongest coffee on earth… it's a baby."

"Whoa. What? A…what?"

"Get ready for a little brother or sister, because he or she will be here in another 8 months or so."

Rory let out a squeal, and Marty continued to stare at her with a look of amusement and confusion. "You're pregnant? Mom, you're pregnant?"

"Yeah, I am. We found out yesterday."

"I'm so happy for you! Is Luke freaking out?"

"If by freaking out, you mean working 12 hours a day to put an addition on the house, then yes. But seriously, I think he's glowing more than I am. You'd think he was the one who was pregnant. …Well, there was some strange tension when I told him about the possibility of me being pregnant, but as soon as that test came out positive, he's been… giddy. I'd never in my life thought I'd see Luke giddy."

Rory was grinning like an idiot. "Aww Mom, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks, kid! Well, I've gotta go, but I just couldn't wait to tell you. Tell Marty I said hi."

"I will. Hug Luke for me, and tell him I said 'congratulations'."

--------------------------------------------------------------

_January, 2007_

Lorelai was on her way to her doctor's appointment for her next pregnancy check-up. Luke had wanted to come along more than anything, since the ultrasound would reveal the sex of the baby. But he was stuck with the lunch rush at the diner. Caesar was sick, and Lane was off playing with the band in New Hampshire. Luke wanted to close the diner for a few hours, but Lorelai convinced him otherwise—that it wasn't a big deal if he wasn't there, that even though she'd love it if he could be there, she totally understood.

All afternoon, every time the bells above the diner door rang, Luke looked up, hoping it was Lorelai, curious to find out whether they were having a boy or a girl.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she breezed into the diner, a huge grin on her face; she grabbed his wrist, dragged him into the storeroom with her, and stood in front of him. "Luke, it's a boy!"

A huge grin spread across his face. "It's… a boy? Really?"

"Yeah! I can't wait; I can dress him up just like his daddy in flannels and backwards baseball caps,"

"Ah, jeez…"

"And you guys can go play catch in the back yard, and we can all go fishing together, because a son's gotta fish with his dad."

"We?"

Yeah."

"_You're_ going to fish?"

"Well, I can watch anyways, but I'll definitely want to come along and hang out with my two favorite guys."

Luke smiled at this picture of his future family… just like his own as he was growing up—he, his dad, and his mom going fishing together on weekends. Liz usually didn't come along. She was too busy with her own friends, but some of his best childhood memories were those Saturdays spent at the lake with his parents, and he was thrilled to think that in a few years, his son would be old enough, and the three of them could hang out by the lake, fishing, and picnicking.

"Earth to Luke!" Lorelai snapped her fingers in front of his face.

He jumped out of his reverie. "What?"

"You were spacing out."

"No, I wasn't," he scoffed.

"Yes you were." She giggled and knew exactly what he had been thinking about.

She walked over to him, kissed him on the cheek and said, "You're cute."

He rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling.

After a moment of letting it all sink in, Luke reached out his hand to touch her round belly.

Lorelai watched him curiously. "It seems even more real now, doesn't it?"

Luke spoke softly, with his hand and his eyes still remaining on her belly. "Yeah, it does. Now we know that he's a 'him' and not just an 'it'." His eyes met hers now, and he leaned in for a soft, slow, lingering kiss.

--------------------------------------------------------------

_Early May, 2007_

"Mom, try to hold him in for at least another week," Rory whined into the phone.

"Rory! I want him out! Now! I will do my best to hold him off, but if he's born during finals week, don't blame me."

"I just really don't want to miss this. I want to be there, in the hospital, just not in the Delivery Room because I'll probably puke, plus Luke will probably be in there anyway… but I want to be there, outside that door so I can hear my new baby brother cry for the first time, and then come see you two right away, and make sure Luke hasn't passed out during the birth…"

Lorelai giggled. "Yeah, I'm not too sure how well Luke's gonna handle it either, but he says he wants to be there in the delivery room with me." She sighed. "You know I want you there, but school comes first. Your last final exams of your college career are important."

"I know, I know… well, I have to get back to studying. Marty and I have a study date tonight before dinner. Make sure you call me as soon as you go into labor."

"Well, since I'll probably be screaming and clutching at my stomach, I'll have Luke call you the minute I go into labor."

Rory laughed. "Okay, love you, mom."

"Love ya, kid. Study good."

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you know that _floccinaucinihilipilification _is a real word!"

"Have you been reading the dictionary again?" Luke asked, moving around the couch to kiss Lorelai hello.

"Well, this permanent bed-rest thing for the rest of my pregnancy isn't so fun especially when you're off running your business all day, and Rory's off getting ready for her last finals of her college career, and I'm left here with the latest issue of _Cosmo_ that I've already read three times this week, and it's of no benefit to me because I can't even try out the sex tips right now!" she kicked a leg out, and sank into the couch in frustration.

Luke sat down at the end of the couch, and Lorelai shifted to lean against him, throwing the pink blanket over him so that they were both covered by it.

Luke draped one arm around her shoulders, and gingerly placed his other hand over her enlarged belly. "Soon, this little guy will meet the world, and you won't be stuck on this couch anymore."

"But I can't possibly wait any longer!" she whined. "I know! It would be awesome if I could somehow transfer him to you, and you could carry him around for the next week until he's ready!"

Luke snorted, "Uh, I don't think that's possible. But if it was, I'd do it."

Lorelai gasped. "You'd seriously do that for me?"

Luke smiled. "No. It would probably have negative physical ramifications, seeing as I am a man, and a not built to carry a baby."

"Ooh! You could be like a Seahorse—the males are the ones who get pregnant _and _give birth after the females deposit her eggs into his pouch! I've been watching too much of the Discovery Channel."

"I agree," he said with a disgusted look on his face. "And thank god I'm not a Seahorse."

-----------------------------------

_One week later,_

_Yale graduation day,_

_May 19, 2007_

"Lorelai, I can't get ahold of Rory."

"She… ouch! Probably has her phone… ow! Shit! …off. The ceremony starts soon." Lorelai had gone into labor, on Rory's graduation day, no less.

"I'll leave her a message. Let's go."

"No, I want to go to Rory's graduation!" she whined as she tried to get out of bed.

"Lorelai, you're in _labor_! We have to get to the hospital. Plus, you wouldn't have been able to go anyway, since the doctor had ordered bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy." Luke was helping Lorelai out of bed, and they were slowly heading toward the bedroom door.

"But… but… ow! But the doctor would have never known! And Rory's been working towards this her whole life. We have to be there!" She took the stairs one at a time while holding onto Luke for support.

"I'm sure your mother probably hired a professional photographer to videotape this thing, so you'll be able to see it some other time."

"But what about Rory—she wants us there!"

"I'm sure giving birth is a good enough excuse to miss your daughter's college graduation."

------

Richard and Emily proudly watched their granddaughter graduate from Yale. They watched with delight as Rory's name was called along with all of the other G-named graduates in her row who stood with her.

Since they didn't expect Luke and Lorelai to be attending graduation because of the doctor's orders, they definitely weren't expecting to hear about the events unfolding a few towns away.

At the end of the ceremony, Rory came running to her grandparents with Marty in tow. Richard and Emily simultaneously enveloped her in a hug, but before they got to truly congratulate her, she had wriggled from their grasp and exclaimed, "Mom's in labor! Luke left me a voicemail. Let's go!"

She said goodbye to Marty and promised to call him later to let him know that everything had gone okay, and the three Gilmores took off toward Litchfield Hospital.

"Oh, hey everyone!" greeted Sookie, who had already been in the waiting room, "Lorelai's doing fine, Luke's in there with her, and the little one should be born within a matter of minutes."

All waited nervously and excitedly in the waiting room until shortly, a nurse came in and asked for family and friends of Lorelai Danes, and informed them that a healthy baby boy was born, and that he was now getting to know his mom and dad.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"I proved my theory wrong," Lorelai said softly, smiling.

"What theory is that?" Luke asked, stroking Lorelai's hair, and watching his newborn son in her arms.

"That baby boys wouldn't smell pink."

"What?"

"When Rory was born, she was the cutest pink all over. She even smelled pink… and I always wondered if baby boys would smell… blue or something."

Luke chuckled. "You're crazy, do you know that?"

She gasped sleepily, "I am not! Pink for girls, blue for boys! That's how it's always been!"

"Okay, so our son doesn't smell blue..."

"No, he smells pink… I guess all babies smell pink… it's my new favorite color." She said, smiling down at baby William.

"Mine too," he said softly, watching his son wrap his tiny fist around one of Luke's fingers.


End file.
